Preparing for the Coming US Economic Collapse

By Ron Chapman
of http://www.abundanthope.net/


G'day cobbers,

I get the impression that some forum posters think nothing is more
important than being negative about AH and its goals. If I were in
their situation I would be packin' death about what the future holds –
especially for those living in the good old US of A. IF one truly
believes that US-style 3D life is all there is one needs to get into
ECONOMIC COLLAPSE mode FKN quickly. There ain't much time left.

Currently the U.S. economy is poised to perform a magical disappearing
act.

Many of the problems that sank the Soviet Union now endanger the US.
For instance, like the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, it has a huge,
well-equipped and very expensive military bogged down fighting Muslim
freedom fighters in foreign lands. Also, energy shortfalls linked to
peaking oil production and horrendously unfavourable capital account
and trade balances is resulting in runaway foreign debt. Add to that a
delusional self-image, an inflexible ideology, and unresponsive,
totally corrupt authoritarian judicial and political systems.

When supported by corrupt judicial and political systems economic
arrangements can continue through sheer inertia well after they become
untenable. But eventually the tide of fraudulent practices, broken
promises and failed corporate activities flushes it down the drain.
The US economy and society currently floats on the false assumption
that it is possible to perpetually borrow increasing sums of money
from the rest of the world, to pay for ever-increasing manufacturing
and energy imports, while the price of those imports steadily
escalates. In particular the US economy and polity floats on the
notion that free money (fiat petro-dollars and US Treasury notes) will
always be able to buy energy imports from foreign lands. This use of
free money equates to FREE energy. But good things don't last forever
and so the US's free petro-dollar scam is a transient condition. Once
the US dollar loses its world reserve currency status based on its
role as the petro-dollar (as is now happening) the flow of FREE energy
to the US will cease and much of the US economy will be forced to shut
down.

Fuel shortages will precipitate shortages of food, medicine, and
countless consumer items, outages of electricity, gas, and water,
breakdowns in transportation systems and other infrastructure,
hyperinflation, widespread shutdowns and mass layoffs, along with a
lot of despair, confusion, violence, and lawlessness. Moreover, there
is no evidence that the US governing elite has any grand rescue plans
or innovative technology programs with which to prevent the coming
socio-economic catastrophe, nor does US society evince any signs of
manifesting any miracles of social cohesion during the impending
economic implosion.

US society is based on money. In the coming economic collapse the
governing elite is already fuelling that collapse by pumping excessive
quantities of virtual (credit) money into the banking system. The
result will be hyperinflation, which wipes out savings. As oil and
other import prices escalate they will be accompanied by rampant
unemployment, which wipes out incomes. The result is a population that
is largely penniless.

As most employment in the US is in the private sector, the transition
to permanent unemployment of much of the workforce is likely to be
sudden as businesses rapidly shed workers in an effort to stay viable,
or go into liquidation.

In the US very few people own their place of residence free and clear,
and even if they do they need an income to pay real estate and other
taxes. So, people without an income face homelessness. When the
economy collapses, very few people will continue to have an income, so
homelessness will become rampant. Add to that the motor vehicle (mv)
dependent lifestyle in most US cities and the countryside, and the
result of mass unemployment can only be mass migrations of homeless
people, mostly towards city centres.

The US population is almost entirely mv-dependent, and relies on
markets that control oil importation, refining, and distribution. They
also rely on continuous public investment in road construction and
repair. Also motor vehicles require a steady stream of imports of both
parts and whole vehicles neither of which are designed to last very
long. When these intricately inter-dependent systems stop functioning
the bulk of the US population will be virtually immobilised as public
transport systems are negligible.

US families generally tend to be atomized, geographically dispersed
and unused to sharing. Families unused to sharing in good times are
likely to find it very difficult to co-operate in bad times.
Competitiveness and personal isolation tend to be endemic already and
economic collapse is unlikely to cure these attitudes and situations.

Economic collapse tends to shut down both local production and
imports, and so it is vitally important that anything you own wears
out slowly, and that you or someone in your family or community (if
you have one to call on) can fix it if it breaks. This is another
reason why AH is exhorting people to develop their community
relationships.

In the US most people get their food from a supermarket, which is
supplied from far away using refrigerated diesel trucks. Many people
also eat fast food. When people do cook, they rarely cook from
scratch. Apart from being unhealthy, these habits will cease to be
viable if super markets and fast food sellers are unable to get food
supplies from distant places. On the positive side, obesity will cease
to be a problem for most people.

US health care is for profit. Once the economy collapses, the profit
ceases, as will most of the services it motivates.

This article is based on the information in the article "Closing the
'Collapse Gap': the USSR was better prepared for collapse than the US"
by Dmitry Orlov Published on 4 Dec 2006 by Energy Bulletin. Archived
on 4 Dec 2006. See http://www.energybulletin.net/23259.html

Orlov's article compares and contrasts the situation of the Soviet
Union when it collapsed at the beginning of the 1990s with the
situation in the US at the end of 2006. In my opinion this article is
a MUST READ for anyone seriously concerned about surviving the
impending economic difficulties facing the population of the US in the
near future.

Orlov says, rightly in my view, that a new subsistence/barter economy
emerges almost immediately in the aftermath of an economic collapse,
whatever its cause.

The scenario discussed by Orlov is predicated upon the current 3D
economic situation, absent ANY Earth changes or other physical
catastrophes that could create or exacerbate it.

Namaste
Ron



All writings by members of AbundantHope are copyrighted by
©2005-2010 AbundantHope - All rights reserved

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2010 Food Crisis and Financial Armageddon

by Eric deCarbonnel
MarketSkeptics.com

If you read any economic, financial, or political analysis for 2010 that doesn’t mention the food shortage looming next year, throw it in the trash, as it is worthless. There is overwhelming, undeniable evidence that the world will run out of food next year. When this happens, the resulting triple digit food inflation will lead panicking central banks around the world to dump their foreign reserves to appreciate their currencies and lower the cost of food imports, causing the collapse of the dollar, the treasury market, derivative markets, and the global financial system. The US will experience economic disintegration.


The 2010 Food Crisis Means Financial Armageddon

Over the last two years, the world has faced a series of unprecedented financial crises: the collapse of the housing market, the freezing of the credit markets, the failure of Wall Street brokerage firms (Bear Stearns/Lehman Brothers), the failure of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the failure of AIG, Iceland’s economic collapse, the bankruptcy of the major auto manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler), etc… In the face of all these challenges, the demise of the dollar, derivative markets, and the modern international system of credit has been repeatedly forecasted and feared. However, all these doomsday scenarios have so far been proved false, and, despite tremendous chaos and losses, the global financial system has held together.

The 2010 Food Crisis is different. It is THE CRISIS. The one that makes all doomsday scenarios come true. The government bailouts and central bank interventions, which have held the financial world together during the last two years, will be powerless to prevent the 2010 Food Crisis from bringing the global financial system to its knees.

Financial crisis will kick into high gear

So far the crisis has been driven by the slow and steady increase in defaults on mortgages and other loans. This is about to change. What will drive the financial crisis in 2010 will be panic about food supplies and the dollar’s plunging value. Things will start moving fast.

Dynamics Behind 2010 Food Crisis

Early in 2009, the supply and demand in agricultural markets went badly out of balance. The world experienced a catastrophic fall in food production as a result of the financial crisis (low commodity prices and lack of credit) and adverse weather on a global scale. Meanwhile, China and other Asian exporters, in an effort to preserve their economic growth, were unleashing domestic consumption long constrained by inflation fears, and demand for raw materials, especially food staples, exploded as Chinese consumers worked their way towards American-style overconsumption, prodded on by a flood of cheap credit and easy loans from the government.

Normally food prices should have already shot higher months ago, leading to lower food consumption and bringing the global food supply/demand situation back into balance. This never happened because the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), instead of adjusting production estimates down to reflect decreased production, adjusted estimates upwards to match increasing demand from china. In this way, the USDA has brought supply and demand back into balance (on paper) and temporarily delayed a rise in food prices by ensuring a catastrophe in 2010.

Overconsumption is leading to disaster

It is absolutely key to understand that the production of agricultural goods is a fixed, once a year cycle (or twice a year in the case of double crops). The wheat, corn, soybeans and other food staples are harvested in the fall/spring and then that is it for production. It doesn’t matter how high prices go or how desperate people get, no new supply can be brought online until the next harvest at the earliest. The supply must last until the next harvest, which is why it is critical that food is correctly priced to avoid overconsumption, otherwise food shortages occur.

The USDA—by manufacturing the data needed to keep supply and demand in balance—has ensured that agricultural commodities are incorrectly priced, which has lead to overconsumption and has guaranteed disaster next year when supplies run out.

An astounding lack of awareness

The world is blissful unaware that the greatest economic/financial/political crisis ever is a few months away. While it is understandable that general public has no knowledge of what is headed their way, that same ignorance on the part of professional analysts, economists, and other highly paid financial “experts” is mind boggling, as it takes only the tiniest bit of research to realize something is going critically wrong in agricultural market.

USDA estimates for 2009/10 make no sense

All someone needs to do to know the world is headed is for food crisis is to stop reading USDA’s crop reports predicting a record soybean and corn harvests and listen to what else the USDA saying.

Specifically, the USDA has declared half the counties in the Midwest to be primary disaster areas, including 274 counties in the last 30 days alone. These designations are based on the criteria of a minimum of 30 percent loss in the value of at least one crop in the county. The chart below shows counties declared primary disaster areas by the secretary of Agriculture and the president of the United States.

Click Here for 132 books of information that will save your life in the coming catastrophe

The Rest…HERE

Our Freedom to Choose

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. "

Benjamin Franklin-1759

It is rather remarkable that our Government always wants to do what is best for us even if we don't agree. We have been conditioned to obey or face the conseqences. Wear your seatbelt because it is for your own good and if you don't we will send the law after you and you will pay a fine.

Now it has evolved into an ominous spector. The Swine Flu H1N1 Virus has appeared. It has the genetic make up of the swine, avian and human flu. Some scientists have said it has all the hallmarks of a product of genetic engineering. At its onset we were shown the images of masked mexicans and told of death tolls was quickly climbing. Within several weeks we had casualties here in the United States and the infection spread worldwide.

The fact is that so far, the swine flu is responsible for 522 deaths in the United States. The regular seasonal flu has approximately 36,000 deaths per year. So what is the panic? We are being told that this flu has a chance of being more deadly on its return this winter. Is this science or wishful thinking from a Government that must pay massive amounts of unemployment compensation and medicaid to a population on the verge of revolution? What is this based on?

The Vaccine is being fast tracked to provide for millions of vaccinations by September-October 2009. Schools are being prepared to become vaccination clinics to vaccinate our children with this experimental vaccine. The Government has made it clear that the manufacturers of these products will not be held responsible for injury or death as a result of this swine flu vaccine. The vaccinations will be given 3 times to each child for the desired effect.

Many states are passing ,or in the process of passing, legislation to make these vaccinations mandatory and for those that don't comply a fine of thousands and prison time of one month is being proposed. New Jersey may be the first state to pass such a law. However, it is not surprising since most of the manufacturers of the vaccine call New Jersey home and contribute quite heavily to the local politicians. New York so far is about to make it mandatory for healthcare workers to be vaccinated against the objections from the New York State Nurses Association(NYSA). I find it quite ironic that Benjamin Franklin's home town of Boston would enforce legislation to criminalize the choice of not being vaccinated.

It seems to me that givin the risk assessment, lack of proven virulence and severity of this virus, that all these measures are quite excessively overreactive. I am bye no means against vaccination when it is part of a well thought out and tested method like the MMR vaccination program. The MMR vaccination program has saved countless lives over the years. What I have a problem with is injecting experimental and quite possibly dangerous and harmful vaccination products into healthy and sometimes not so healthy children because of a fear that they will get a flu that they, by all the data, will recover from fine. There also is no tangible evidence that this vaccine will even work.

The Parents in conjunction with their private physician should be the people at the heart of this decision and not the Government or the World Health organization. Even using common sense, if most people are vaccinated and the flu is as bad as they say the only people that will get sick are the people who chose that route and no one else. My mother did say, sense isn't common.

I have spoken to alot of people and the majority are scared to death. However, I hear a rumbling that I have never heard before. Keep in mind I am a peaceful person and never would advocate violence. I have a warning for the Government...If you make vaccinations manditory for people's children it is going to get very ugly, very fast. Remember that the American people are the most heavily armed people on the planet and they know how to use those things. I have heard people threaten to do terrible things to anyone who touches their children and the politicians making these vaccines mandatory. Soldiers have children, police have children. In these troubled times our government should be a source of comfort not fear. Please stand up and peacfully oppose mandatory vaccination for the good of our children and our country. God Bless America.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFluNews/story?id=6051917&page=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZINew8Elmgk

http://www.hanys.org/news/index.cfm?storyid=1129

http://politics4all.com/users/mikedavis/blog/3543-will-americans-follow-orders-to-take-mandatory-flu-shots

The Healthcare Reform Debate

"With all [our] blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens--a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities." --Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural, 1801


I believe that most Americans will agree, we do want fair affordable healthcare for everyone. The difference of opinion lies in what kind of reform. Some feel that any reform is better than none while others fear they maybe going from the frying pan into the fire by getting something that is worse than we currently have. There are those that feel that Government should have the answers for all of our needs, yet others would not trust Government with their pet hamster, let alone healthcare reform. Furthermore, there is the cost of such reform to an already stressed economy. Will we be able to create the savings that we need to be fiscally responsible and still get affordable healthcare to all. These are discussions that Americans must wrestle with.

So why are these people yelling at politicians and being disruptive at all these townhall meetings?

The simple answer is they are frustrated. They are frustrated at a system that is not responsive to their needs or concerns. They are frustrated that important decisions will be made without their input or that last minute language may be inserted to nullify any improvements agreed upon. They are frustrated that legislation will probably be made that favor the corporate special interest at the expence of the citizens best interest. They are frustrated that the Presidents family can take months to decide on what breed of dog they were getting, yet important legislation is being rushed through in hours without anyone reading it. These actions do not instill confidence but fear of inappropriate judgement and action.

Regardless of whether you voted for our President or not, the majority of people did and still do want him to succeed and fix the problems that have plagued and in many cases have been made worse by countless Administrations before his. However, the change that we have seen so far is disconcerting. The Government continue to bailout banksters, Corporate America and Wallstreeters at the expence of its Citizens. The Federal Reserve is the only drawing pool for applicants that have been tapped to find the solutions to the economic crisis they themselves helped to create. How can we continue to support policies and promises coming from the same source.

The President stated that he did not favor a Canadian or British style healthcare system that is publicly owned and publicly paid. He did not favor a Danish style system that is privately owned and publicly paid. He wanted a uniquely American solution based on the for-profit insurance model. I think that he is very wrong. Those that build on crumbling foundations will never experience stability.

The solutions must come from an honest assessment on why our parents could afford to bring us, as children, to see our neighborhood doctor and it not involve the price of an arm or a leg.

And for those politicians who have stated that the protests at townhall meetings are staged and are not done by real Americans...You are dead wrong! These are real Americans, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents, Blacks and Whites. We have seen the change and this is not the change we meant.

The fact of the matter is we do not have a coherant plan as of yet to even discuss. There are currently four proposals that exist at this time, two in the House and two in the Senate. Ultimately, the plan is to magically combine these into one bill. Will the citizens of this country be able to discuss what we like or dislike from this final bill or will it just be crammed down our throats. Time will tell.

There is a warning I have for the Government and the men behind the curtain of power and it is not a threat but an observation. The people are restless. Heed them not and suffer the wrath of the people of this land, who's awakening can be seen and felt from sea to shining sea. Propaganda and lies will no longer save you from your actions. You have one more chance to make it right, because if you don't, even the soldiers and law enforcement that you depend on will turn an angry eye on your actions and you will be no more. We love our country and the flag that represents our freedoms and have a god given right and obligation to change it when it no longer serves its purpose. God Bless America, my home sweet home.

Common Solutions and Why They Won't Work

Republished from http://www.communityfortomorrow.org/Part4.htm

Part 4 of 10

Civilization as we know it cannot survive the obliteration of wealth that is currently underway. This conclusion may seem frightening and even inconceivable, but as the rapidly eroding economy is already causing a strain on the systems we depend on, there is not a more hopeful outcome unless we cooperatively take action to fundamentally alter our present course.
In the last segment we asked the following questions:

What consequences will the average individual suffer if the large scale production mechanisms that bring his food and other necessities from several hundred miles away stop working? And
What happens when millions located in high population areas suddenly begin to run short on food, power and the fuel to run their transportation due to failure of the centralized production systems?
As our way of life falters and the deterioration of our civilization progresses, ordinarily calm and "law abiding" people will become fearful, rash and perhaps violent. At that point the answers to these questions will become obvious. It won't be pleasant to say the least.

Loss of Technology

There is no question that the human race will survive. It has survived countless collapses throughout history; however, it will be a dreadful period in time, and as survival becomes a full-time occupation, we will lose much in the process. History has shown repeatedly, that when civilizations collapse, the culture's technological advances regress with it.
The classic example of this is the Roman civilization. With its fall in 476 AD, a vast array of technologies were completely lost by the surviving populations. For instance, the knowledge of how to make concrete, considered a common construction material throughout the then known world, was completely lost during the Dark Ages that followed. It wasn't until 1756, almost thirteen hundred years later and well into the rebirth of civilization, that John Smeaton rediscovered the formula for making this wonderful substance.
With the coming collapse of our own civilization, it is possible that history will repeat itself. But this time potential loss of technology and understanding could be staggeringly large, orders of magnitude greater than that lost in the past.

What should we do?

At this point, with how money and finance have been handled in our present civilization, the collapse of our centralized systems is inevitable. The question is "Could there be a way that we as individuals can respond to this looming disaster in order to minimize the consequences of the collapse to ourselves and those that we care about while setting future generations on a path to a better world?"

Common Solutions

We at Community for Tomorrow believe there is. But first, let's examine a few common solutions that others are suggesting and beginning to apply.

Run for the hills and food storage

The first, and what is considered by many as an extremely radical response, is to "run for the hills." Many who are already doing this believe they will be able to weather the storm better in rural or remote areas with stores of pre-manufactured goods produced by our modern civilization.
Admittedly, this solution sounds like a good one. Fight or flight is our instinctual response to danger, and when those living in heavily populated areas realize the magnitude of the coming chaos, flight seems to be the most logical choice.
But those attempting to live in isolation will face their own chaos and eventually their own truly severe living conditions.
Put in the simplest terms, they are running back to the life of the 14th century. Once they have consumed all of their modern products, canned foods, machine manufactured clothing, modern medicines and the like, there will be no replacements. They will live, if they live, only on what is available near at hand in the same conditions that the individual found himself before the modern age. In those conditions infant mortality was as high as 80%, an impacted wisdom tooth was the equivalent of a death sentence and a Salmonella typhosa poisoned well (typhoid fever) was known to kill entire families and even large portions of a village. There were a thousand other means of death that existed for those prior to the modern age but for us are all but non existent. The solution of hoarding and running away is not a genuine long-term solution, and anyone who truly understands the ugly side of this approach will not consider it a viable alternative.
A pleasant, durable, productive life is not possible without a stable advanced community. For this reason we must not run, but fight to preserve our local communities.
Before moving on, we cannot stress enough that with this coming collapse, there is not a one or two year solution. When the industrial mechanisms break down through failing national currencies, they are going to break down completely. We are facing the same situation that those of the collapse of Rome faced. Production is not coming back in one year, ten years or even one hundred years. If preparations are not made to prevent this loss of technology, it is not coming back within our lifetime. Those that run off to the hills will be on their own.

End the Fed

Another solution that seems to be very popular is to dismantle the Federal Reserve system. We don't know why anyone would expend the energy fighting this battle as it is going to die its own natural death eventually. We will die with it if we don't have a viable system to replace it with. It is far better to spend time building positive things than attacking or tearing down that which is negative.

Revolution

Some are suggesting that revolution is the solution, but what is meant by revolution? If the objective is to seize control of our profoundly defective government system through civil war, again our response is, "Why bother?" Another's tyranny will be no better than what we presently have. Unless there is a viable, productive substitute, failure is certain. If the intent is to tear down the present system and replace it with nothing (anarchy), again we say "Why bother?" Why put forth all the effort, while risking lives in the process? Why not just sit and wait for the anarchy and chaos that is the eventual outcome of what we are facing? In the next segment we will present the ultimate form of revolution, a solution we refer to as "the fourth industrial revolution."

Government intervention

Many people believe that the government can be trusted to provide us with a solution. We consider this the ultimate form of folly. Those that take this position are like the proverbial ostrich that sticks its head in the sand. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that attempting to ignore danger never stops it from coming.
Up until now the federal government of the United States has produced nothing that we consume on a daily basis. The only thing it has really given rise to in the last 100 years is an extremely unstable fiat currency and the ever so present wars and conflicts it has been involved in since the rise of the Federal Reserve. As for its involvement in our daily economy, all it has done up to this point is redistribute the products produced by private individuals and they have done this very poorly as demonstrated by the staggering amount of governmental waste.
It cannot be overemphasized that our true wealth has come from private individuals coming together to produce all of the products of our modern age. Other "seemingly modern civilizations" such as the Soviet Union attempted to have the government be the sole producer and provider of the goods needed by the people. If it had not been for the millions of tons of food shipped by the United States to Russia, a very large percentage of their population would have starved outright and state control of production within that culture would have failed almost immediately rather than lasting for more than 60 years at the great detriment to its population.
The government is the single worst organizing mechanism for production ever seen by humanity. They have no way of determining what should be made and in what quantity. That can only be achieved by the profit and loss mechanisms working in a free market as aptly and effectively described by Ludwig von Mises in the 1930s.
If the United States government should attempt to apply the policies of the former Soviet Union, we face very dire consequences. There is no other United States in this world to feed us. If they nationalize all of our productive mechanisms, the effects will be immediate and severe, and it will make those of us left to suffer with the consequences look upon those who acted on the hoarding solution as if they are living in paradise.

Hope through next generation technologies

In order to retain our way of life and current level of technology, all solutions must be evaluated by considering their potential to sustain the components necessary for community survival. In the next segment we will discuss this in more detail as well as introduce the concept of the fourth industrial revolution as a means of relocalizing production using next generation technologies.

For more information on this article http://www.communityfortomorrow.org/index.htm

Civil Disobedience: The Right of Revolution

Originally Posted on October 24, 2007 by Barbara Peterson


Henry David Thoreau’s essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” written in 1849 is as relevant to the times now as it was then. We have a right to stand up and question any institution or individual that claims authority over us, just as he did then. In fact, it is our duty as citizens to do so. Thoreau decided that he could not be associated with the government of his day without disgrace. How about our government today? Can we associate with it without disgrace?

I can hear his words echoing in my mind: “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right” (Thoreau, 1849). Our government enacts laws that intend to subjugate and enslave. We are hit from all sides with programs that invade our privacy, take away our rights as free citizens, and make chattel of us. Our government is out of control, and its laws do not stand for what is right. Therefore, it is our duty as citizens to question its authority. It is our duty as citizens to revolt. Thoreau states: “All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist the government when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.” This revolution is not one to eliminate the government, but to make it better. “I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government” (Thoreau, 1849). So how do we go about this revolution? Thoreau makes it clear that
It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong…but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support (Thoreau, 1849).
We can resist in many ways, but the most effective method of resistance is to not support what we know to be wrong. We must live so that we are a counter friction, not supporting the wrongs that we condemn (Thoreau, 1849). If we deem it wrong to go to war over oil, we should not support anyone who supports that war, and make our next vehicle purchase one that uses the least amount of gas and oil as possible. We can withdraw monetary support for a bloated, oppressive government by not supporting the income tax system. We can stop supporting the unsafe import system by reading labels for the country of origin and refusing to purchase items that place us at risk. If we are tired of the restrictions on free speech, we should shout as loudly as we can that the First Amendment to the Constitution has not been rescinded, and refuse to listen to the media talking heads who do nothing but spout government-sponsored propaganda. By withdrawing our support for the things we know to be wrong, we can make a difference. Some who take the road of resistance will be imprisoned, but take solace from the following:





“Under a government, which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison” (Thoreau, 1849).



As Dylan Thomas so aptly put it: “Do not go gentle into that goodnight…rage, rage against the dying of the light.” May we find the strength to rage against the dying of the light of our nation while democracy gasps its last breath. May we, as individuals, find the courage to stand up to the powers that be and make the right choices. It starts with one person, and one choice. Do not abrogate your responsibility and sit on the fence of compromise. Decide to do what is right today.

References:
Thomas, D. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bigeye.com/donotgo.htm
Thoreau, H.D. (1849). Retrieved from http://thoreau.eserver.org/civil.html
Copyright 2007, Barbara H. Peterson

Winds of Change

As I read the daily media propaganda about how the economy is turning around I came across pictures of the vigil remembering Tiananmen Square. Hundreds of thousands of people involved in peaceful candlelight vigils all across China. I was, myself, in college at the time and was moved, then as I am now, for people who have the courage to risk their own lives to stand up for their freedom. John Lennon came to mind as I thought about our moment in history. I thought if only someone like John Lennon was here he would have been talking about Revolution and change and maybe got people moving to really change things. Where is “our” John Lennon? Where is our generation leader? A voice and force of personality that inspires millions into action. Whoever you are…We need you more than ever.

I have no doubt that the government is not being straight with us. The economy is in much worse shape than they are saying. I truly believe the Greatest Depression the world has ever seen is imminent. What I am most dismayed about is how so many people will be caught by surprise because of the lack of information that the masses are receiving. So many people relying on the media and government to inform them on a topic that both never even saw coming. That being said it is very easy to lose sight of the positive that can result from such a change. For those who have read between the lines and prepared, a new beginning awaits.

When the dust settles and the horizon comes into focus the work of rebuilding our societies will begin. Will we miss the rat race when it has all but vanished from our memory? I think not. The winds of change are indeed growing. Societies across the globe are on the verge of major change. Can you feel it? The Chinese have a saying “May you live in interesting times”. Well if these aren’t interesting times, I don’t know what is.

Capitalism has failed, and Communism has failed. However, our Governments are trying to keep the status quo at all costs with bailouts of the rich with the hard-earned money of the working class, imprisoning our children with debt before they are born. It is time to shake the shackles of humanity for real freedom. Not the freedom of the subjugation of the indebted masses to the ruling lenders but a real freedom to pursue humanities dreams of a better tomorrow for its children.

Change is coming and the ride will be rough. It is time to prepare for the coming collapse, but what will emerge will be far better than what is current. The Heroin addict must endure the agony of withdrawal if he is to regain his health of mind, body and soul and so shall we.